Improved machine for raising, creasing, and slicking leather



UNrrnn STATES PATENT Crimen.

- y CHARLES W. GUEST, OF DEXTER, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR RAISING, CREASING, AND SLICKING LEATHER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,565, dated November 10, ltS.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES W. GUEST, of the village of Dexter, in the county of Washtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement on Machines for Raising, Creasing, and Slicking Leather Straps for the Making of Harness, or other Analogous Uses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of thev same, reference being had to the annexed drawin gs,makin g a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation; and Fig. 2 a perspective view of the lever detached.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

The object of this improvement is to furnish a more simple. perfect, and comprehensive machine for the use of harness-makers, and the nature of which consists in the use of a pair of rollers, in combination with drivinggear (imparting a different relative motion to said rollers) and an adjustable weighted lever, the several parts bein g constructed, arranged, and operated in the manner I am now about .to describe.

The framerof this machine consists simply of' a horizontal bed-plate, A, (usually of wood,) at each end of which is erected a vertical castiron standard, (marked 13,) which is provided with a'bottom flange, through which the bolts or wood-screws pass to connect it firmly with the said bed-plate.

rIhe raising, creasiu g, and slicking rollers R and R2 revolve in Abearin gs formed in thc standards B B. I make these rollers suffi ciently long to bear all the forms for the different width of both raised and fiat straps in common use, and, to obviate springing, range them successively narrower from each end toward the center. The upper roller, R', is best made of cast-iron, turned and polished. Each form on this is bounded by a thin, deep ange for confining the strap laterally, so that it can not expand in that direction when under pressure, but be guided straight between 111e two rollers.

A reference to Fig. l will exhibit the various convexities and creases and flats, all of' which may be altered or modified as necessity or fancy may dictate, and of course each form lnust be exactly the obverse ot' that designed to be impressed upon the leather. The bot tomrollcr, R2, which I usually make of hard wood, with an iron or steel spindle tightly driven through the center, to stilfen it and form the journals, is provided with turned forms in obverse ofthe upper one. Thus the guide-fianges are sunk in corresponding grooves and the concavities are matched by convexities. The bearings in the standards B Bfor the journals of the wooden roller are made oblong, so as to allow for the passage of the various thickness of leather between the two rollers. A

Fig. 2 exhibits a perspective view ofv the lever, usually made in cast iron. It consists of' a straight horizontal bar, D, which forks near the machine in such manner as to allow the forked extremities to be introduced between the standards, the half-bearings C C being fitted to and bearing against the lower halves of the journals of the wooden roller, while the lever itselfl rests in a horizontal position on the fulerums e c, which are cast inta proper position on theinner sides of the standard plates. The two rollers are brought together with the requisite force on the interposed leather by suspending a sufficiently heavy weight, W, to the end of the lever D. The rollers are rotated on lturning the crank F by the intervention of the two spur gearwheels o o2.

I usually erect my machine for operation by firmly screwing it down through the bed-plate A on the top of a work-bench, b, and suspend the weight W by a wire or cord, which passes through a narrow slot (not shown) cut through the bench-top, so that the weight will hang underneath, out of the way, and can ye tbe easily adjusted, by ymoving the suspending wire along the lever D, to give the proper ima pression and finish to either light or heavy straps. rlhe operat( r, after adjusting the weight W on the lever, introduces with one hand the strap to be creased and slicked, in the proper pair of forms, between the rollers, the nished side up, while with the other hand he turns the crank F, which is keyed to the wooden roller R2. The gear o2 on this roller,.meshi ng into 0', gives areverse motion to the iron roller It', by which the strap is drawn through and properly creased or raised and creased, as may be desired.

While this operation of creasing and forming is going on the finished surface of the leather is being beautifully slicked in every part, as follows The iron roller R is caused to revolve with a slightly-decreased velocity as compared with the wooden one by making the spur gear-Wheel o' a little larger than the driver by one or two cogs. As the rough, unfinished side of the leather adheres to the Wooden roller better than the smooth finished side doesto the polished iron, the finished side, While being creased and formed, is forced to slide against the iron under pressure, which produces a iine uniform polish. The rollers are preserved from injury by coming into contact with each other when there is no .interposed strap by lmeans of the stud S, (usually of Wood,) which supports the weighted end of the lever D.

I am aware that machines for raising and creasing leather by passing it under pressure between rollers substantially the same as mine have been long in use, and that the mere addition of forms for creasing Hat straps would not of itself constitute a patentable novelty. Neither do I believe that the mere slickin g of the surface (separately considered) by the use of two cog-Wheels of different size, or the mere substitution alone of the Weigh ted lever for the spring or treadle attachment hitherto used would'entitle me to a patent.

The principal difference between my improved machine and all others of the kind is that by the combined use of the different relative speed of the rollers and the Weighted lever I am enabled to crease, form, and slick leather strapsA by one and the saine operation and give them a perfectly-uniform depth of impression and luster of finish, no matter how much variation there may be in the thickness. The leather hitherto has been formed and creased in such operations by spring or foottreadle pressure, and it can be readily seen that perfect uniformity of result under all conditions cannot be produced in this Way Without frequent and troublesome adjustment and care. The Weighted lever, once adjusted to the degree of pressure required, will not give out more by forcing the rollers apart by any increase of thickness in the strap, as Will the spring, hence the superiorityof uniform result in my arrangement, which is the only one in use by which straps of varying thickness can be creased and slicked at the same time in a uniform manner.

I do not claim, broadly, shaping and creasing leather by passing the same under pressure between rollers having flanges, groove, ridges, and forms, by which the strap is ,confined, guided, and has impressed upon its surface the required form; but,

,Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

The employment of the yrollers R and R2, in combination With the unequalfsized spurgear wheels o and o2, and the forked and Weighted lever D, constructed, arranged, and operated substantially as and for the purposes specified.

CHARLES W. GUEST.

Witnesses:

GEORGE JoHNsoN, LEMUEL BRADLEY. 

